A Question About Race?

Question

Okay. My husband and I are watching this boxing match on HBO. They announced one of the boxers as being African Canadian. My husband who is Black, or African American, says, what's up with him being called African Canadian. So I said, well, I guess he is a Black person who lives in Canada. So he says, that doesn't make sence. Do Black people in Germany call thamselves African German, or African Russian, and so on. So what we are wondering is what is the proper term for Black people who are from other countries. He says that they would be called just Canadian, or German. We are looking for your input on this. Thanks!

Answer 1

They should be called whatever they want to be called. In Britain the black community is sometimes referred to as Afro-Carribean.
Given the racial violence going on in Russia, the few black people in Russia are probably called African-and-scared-as- hell :)

But seriously, if the term African American is OK, then I don't see why African Canadian is a problem. It just sounds odd because we aren't used to hearing it.

But I agree that in the context a wrestling match, it seems odd to call the guy African Canadian. Presumably people could see he was black, so why not just call him Canadian?

Answer 2

I am most often labeled as a Caucasian American or, just an American. We are all defined by either the continent we live on, skin color/ethnicity or,a combination of the two.

If labeled properly, I would be known as an Olive Skinned Dutch-British-German-American Indian.

Which I think I will insist upon from here on out.

Yea, that's the ticket....

Answer 3

Well, Africans in Germany would not call themselves African American, so maybe they do say African German. Your only hope would be to ask an African German....good luck with that.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

I tend to agree with your husband. but since we are way over politically correct in the United States, to the point of being insulting if you ask me. I can only assume that the announcer was American and didnt know what to say in order not to offend anyone. Then again, the boxer himself may have requested that he be called african canadian. Its pretty bad when you have to specifically ask someone how to be refered to outside of their name and what country they were born in. But This has been perpetuated by many people who cannot just accept who they are with out some sort of "special" label.
For example, I am italian in heritiage. but i was born in the united states. I have never reffered to myself as italian american. If i were in another country and being introduced. it would be kinda dumb for someone to call me an american italian. I was born in america and am Therefore an american. America is my birth country. Doesnt mean anything special. I would personally like to know what Black people think about this. As it seems to be an american issue in my opinion. I wonder what they do in Europe and abroad as well.
Why do black americans want to be called african americans?
Because there are plenty of white people with african heritage as well. and I have never called a white person with african roots "african american" He just an american. and why is being called black considered a racial slur? Im white in color...big deal. black people refer to me as a "white woman"...doesnt bother me..cause thats what i am in appearance. Its just a visual description of me. wow...apparently I have more questons than answers on this subject.

Answer 6

hi,
the wife is right. they are African what ever. one because they were born in that country and two because the are African. i am African American,native Indian white if we were to get technical. i go as African American but if asked i happily announce my other components.

Answer 7

Your husband is right (that they should be called just "canadian") so long as he drops the "african" part of his description, and goes by just "american".

Answer 8

I would say any black person would get offended by that comment. If they are black fine, that's one thing but to throw in Canadian-who asked what country he was from? I think it just makes the person sound ignorant. It'd be different if they announced everyone's country but I bet it was just his.

Answer 9

Well in certain countries they're just called by what nationality they are, like Russian, German etc. But I've also seen in other countries they're called Afro, like Afro-Venezualan, Afro Cuban etc. It really depends on the culture they live in.

Answer 10

In many countries they are just called german, egyptian,cuban whatever.